Chapter 26: The Demon

Hearing Mo Qingyan’s words, I was completely dumbfounded. Xiaoqing quickly realized the implication of her statement and asked, “So… if no one has ever used a Painted Skin before, that means Xiao Ge could very well be the first—and there’s no way to reverse it?”

“Yes,” Mo Qingyan said. “There isn’t a single recorded instance of someone transforming, let alone restoring themselves. That’s why I suspect he might be the first human affected by a Painted Skin Ghost to become a ghoul… and…” She paused, as if reluctant to continue.

“And… what?” Xiaoqing asked, not quite catching on.

“And, consider this: the Painted Skin Ghost took her form to come to school. That means your human skin was probably taken by it during yesterday’s attack,” Mo Qingyan explained.

“Ah!” Xiaoqing finally understood. The Painted Skin Ghost appeared as a person because it had already stolen Luo Xiao’s skin. Last night, when it went to her home, it didn’t wear it because it no longer needed to—it had already taken possession of it.

“My… my skin… was stolen by the Painted Skin Ghost? But I didn’t feel anything… isn’t skinning supposed to be excruciating? This makes no sense!” I was in shock. My words stumbled out incoherently.

Before, when I saw the Painted Skin Ghost take my appearance, I had been unnerved, but I thought it was some sort of illusion or transformation technique. Hearing from Mo Qingyan that it had literally stripped my skin changed everything.

“That’s exactly why it’s abnormal. If it were logical, would we even call them monsters? Strange, supernatural, and unscientific things are their normal state,” Mo Qingyan said, adjusting her glasses.

“This is the basic principle of studying the paranormal. Here, discard common sense. If it exists, it is reasonable. What seems unreasonable is simply that humans haven’t discovered or summarized its rules,” Xiaoqing added.

Mo Qingyan continued, “So far, there hasn’t been a single survivor of a Painted Skin Ghost attack who has lived after having their skin stripped. We only have records of them being attacked.”

“I understand that logically… but now that my skin has been taken and possessed by the Painted Skin Ghost, how do I return to normal? Can I even return?” I forced myself to calm down and asked Mo Qingyan.

“Don’t worry. First, tell me in detail everything about the attack, especially the specifics. I only heard a rough version from Xiaoqing, so I don’t know the full situation,” Mo Qingyan instructed.

I recounted everything: from being confessed to by Xia Yubing, being lured to the rooftop, attacked, and then saved by the jade pendant, surviving but transforming into the school beauty Xia Yubing, to being attacked again at Xiaoqing’s home.

While I spoke, Mo Qingyan took careful notes, occasionally interrupting me to ask for specific details—especially about how I had transformed into Xia Yubing. I also told her about the incident with the troublemaking boys, the Painted Skin Ghost, and the police.

After she finished taking notes, she paused thoughtfully. “Extend your hand. Let me feel it.”

I hesitated. Normally, if a senior asked to hold my hand, I would have been thrilled. Now, I only felt uneasy.

Though Mo Qingyan was elegant, I could sense an unnerving aura around her—not simply cold, but chilling, perhaps influenced by the environment. I extended my hand. She held it carefully, even swapping to a red-framed pair of glasses to examine it closely.

“You said that after the attack by the Painted Skin Ghost, you could see spirits and other unclean entities, even sense aura and spiritual energy?” Mo Qingyan asked.

“Yes. I can see them. Those black misty energies are even in this room. Does this mean I have the Yin-Yang Eye?” I replied.

“Yin-Yang Eye? That alone can’t explain it. It only allows one to see ghosts. There are many ways to see spirits—my glasses, Xiaoqing’s talisman, or the Eye of Law—but none of them allow you to ‘read aura,’” Mo Qingyan said.

“Read aura? What’s that?” I asked, completely new to these mystical terms.

“Reading aura is the ability to see spiritual energy fields. Typically, only feng shui masters or tomb raiders study it,” Mo Qingyan explained.

“You mean… I have the ability to read aura? But I never trained in it,” I said, confused.

“You didn’t practice the Eye of Law either, yet you can see spirits. The only explanation is that you are indeed a ghoul—partially infused with the Painted Skin Ghost’s power. Both seeing ghosts and reading aura are natural to the Painted Skin Ghost,” Mo Qingyan said.

“Wait, but didn’t you just say Xiao Ge isn’t a ghoul?” Xiaoqing asked.

“When did I say that? I only said he is still human,” Mo Qingyan replied, smiling at Xiaoqing.

Both of us froze. Technically, she hadn’t outright said I wasn’t a ghoul, but her words implied I was different from normal ghouls.

“But… didn’t you say no Painted Skin Ghost has ever created a ghoul?” Xiaoqing still didn’t understand.

“Then why couldn’t you be the first? Remember our principle: existence equals reason. What seems unreasonable is just something humans haven’t understood yet,” Mo Qingyan repeated. Xiaoqing was stunned.

“Previously, no one survived because the Painted Skin Ghost never left anyone alive. It strips the skin, rips out hearts and lungs, and drains vitality—it’s an extremely vicious monster. To save someone, you have to stop it before it starts, otherwise even losing just the skin is fatal.”

“So… someone like you, stripped of your skin yet managing to take back the stolen human skin, is unprecedented—a pure accident. And it also indicates something very important.”

“What is it?” I was already dizzy from the strangeness of my situation and could only wait for Mo Qingyan to explain.

“You became a ghoul the instant the ghost attacked you. That’s why it was possible to merge with the stolen skin. But do you understand the essence of a ghoul?” Mo Qingyan asked.